Scoring a too perfect 10

With students under pressure to stand out some are now taking 10 A-levels. But is that too many, ask Sian Griffiths and Diane Hofkins

Nicole Atack says she only pushed to take science A-levels a year early because she had a terrific crush on a boy in the year above.

“His name is Ross and now he’s at Durham studying maths. I really fancied him, that was the reason I wanted to jump up a year in physics,” she explained last week. But Nicole’s education snowballed. “I never intended to take so many A-levels, I just kept adding subjects I was interested in.”

This week Nicole, 18, a comprehensive schoolgirl from Essex, will start a natural sciences degree at King’s College, Cambridge. She will be unique in the college, though not in the university, because over two years she has notched up an extraordinary 10 A-levels, all grade As, in subjects ranging from maths to politics.

Her fellow superbright student is Jan Sramek, who is also embarking on life as a Cambridge undergraduate, reading